Chi-Ha Short Gun

Chi-Ha Short Gun

Chi-Ha Short Gun

Japan

II Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
2.0	1.7	1.7

Class:

PREMIUM

Medium tank

Purchase:1 000

Show in game

This page is about the premium Japanese medium tank Chi-Ha Short Gun. For other uses, see Chi-Ha (Family).

Description

The Type 97 Chi-Ha Short Gun is a premium rank II Japanese medium tank with a battle rating of 2.0 (AB) and 1.7 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.65 "Way of the Samurai" with the initial Japanese tank tree.

The Chi-Ha Short Gun is a Naval refit of the Chi-Ha Kai with a Navy short gun (120 mm), it keeps the decent mobility from the Chi-Ha chassis but loses the turret rotation speed due the added weight of the gun.

General info

Chi-Ha Short Gun scanning the seaside

The Type 97 Chi-Ha is an upgraded version of the earlier Type 89 I-Go Ko. The engine has been upgraded, from the Mitsubishi A6120VD air-cooled straight-six diesel with 120 hp to a Mitsubishi SA12200VD air-cooled V12 diesel with 170 hp. As such, the top speed has increased from 27 km/h on the I-Go Ko to 40 km/h on the Chi-Ha.

The Chi-Ha Short Gun is a later iteration of the Chi-Ha with a modified turret coming from the Chi-Ha Kai. For firepower the Chi-Ha Short Gun has a Navy short gun (120 mm) that launches 13 kg HE shells.

Which was made to support navy infantry as a gun tank during the defense of the homeland.

Survivability and armour

Light, but effective against weaker guns (i.e. early French), weaker shells (low-calibre HE), and in long range engagements.

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour

Armour	Front	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	25 mm (11-31°) Front plate 15-17 mm (62-80°) Front glacis 15 mm (37-59°) Lower glacis	25 mm (25 / 40°) Top 25 mm Bottom	15 mm (69°) Top 20 mm (5-57°)	12 mm
Turret	25 mm (9-10°) Turret front 32-35 mm Gun mantlet	25 mm (9-10°)	25 mm	10 mm
Armour	Sides	Roof
Cupola	25 mm	10 mm

Notes:

• Suspension wheels and tracks are 15 mm thick.

Mobility

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	45	21	14.8	263	324	17.77	21.89
Realistic	40	19		150	170	10.14	11.49

Armaments

Main armament

Chi-Ha Short Gun firing

The gun from the Chi-Ha Short Gun is naval short gun built to deal with submarines and close range naval combat, and that does translate over in-game as a gun with lackluster HE filler just enough to destroy light tanks and a very low muzzle velocity, which on the bright side can be used to shoot at vehicles over cover.

120 mm Navy short gun					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	23	-8°/+15°	±180°	N/A	5.7	7.9	9.6	10.6	11.3	13.0	11.5	10.6	10.0
Realistic					3.6	4.2	5.1	5.6	6.0

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
Short Ordinary HE	HE	30	30	30	30	30	30

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Normalisation at 30° from horizontal	Ricochet
								0%	50%	100%
Short Ordinary HE	HE	290	13.0	0.1	0.1	2,520	+0.0°	79°	80°	81°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Chi-Ha Short Gun

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	Visual discrepancy
23	18 (+5)	0 (+23)	No

Machine guns

7.7 mm Type 97
Mount	Capacity (Belt capacity)	Rate of fire (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
Hull	3,000 (20)	498	±10°	±15°
Pintle	1,000 (20)	498	-10°/+70°	±60°

Usage in battles

Chi-Ha Short Gun coming out behind a rock

Because the Chi-Ha Short Gun was designed for an infantry support role, its performance shows how tank combat wasn't put in mind for the vehicle. With each shell only having 2.5 kg of explosive, this isn't enough to destroy any vehicle the shell hits; it most likely will shock the crew, but nothing else.

Most light armored vehicles and tanks (<30 mm armor) will be able to be destroyed from either hull break or crew knock-out wherever you hit. But when you start opposing medium to heavy tanks, you should fallback for friendlies to deal with the target. It might be possible to hit the roof of the turret or hull on these vehicles, but it's a tricky shot and won't always deal a fatal blow on first hit.

Modules

Tier	Mobility		Protection	Firepower
I	Tracks		Parts	Horizontal Drive
II	Suspension	Brake System	FPE	Adjustment of Fire
III	Filters		Crew Replenishment	Elevation Mechanism
IV	Transmission	Engine		Artillery Support
This is a premium vehicle: all modifications are unlocked on purchase

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Familiar Chi-Ha chassis
• Ten-seconds reload with a 120 mm cannon
• Typically, if the round penetrates, it kills
• Five crew members
• 30 mm of penetration at any range and angle

Cons:

• Slow reload compared to average size cannons
• Only fires high explosive rounds
• Poor turret traverse, just 5.1°/s
• Large shell drop (shells only travel 290 m/s)
• No roof-mounted anti-aircraft/infantry machine gun

History

Development

The Chi-Ha Short Gun, designated the Short 12 cm Self-propelled artillery (短十 二糎 自走砲) was a navy refit of the Type 97 Chi-Ha Kai to make a similar gun tank as the Army's Type 2 Ho-I with greater firepower to support the Special Naval Landing Forces (SNLF).

To get greater firepower than the Type 2 Ho-I, a naval short barrel 120 mm was chosen with an additional bespoke muzzle break, the official designation of this 120 mm gun is unclear but may greatly be the 12cm/12 short naval gun. Additionally, there was a small storage compartment added onto the back of the ShinHoTo Chi-Ha turret.

Combat usage

The only certain information on this variant is that only a dozen or so vehicles were built and all were assigned to the Yokosuka No. 16 Special Land Battle Corps. The Chi-Ha's weren't the only vehicles assigned to this squadron and saw service next to the Type 2 Ka-Mi and Type 3 Ka-Chi amphibious tanks.

These vehicles would most likely have seen service in defense of the homeland next to the SNLF infantry. But in-case that these tanks would be required to move to forward islands, they would most likely be transport by Daihatsu-class Landing Craft's just like the infantry accompanied and escorted by the Amphibious tanks during landings.

There's only a handful of images of Chi-Ha 120 mm's, all being American and taken at the naval yard in Sasebo, Japan, October 1945. None of the vehicles survive today.

• 

  American Inspection

• 

  Stored Chi-Ha 12 cm's

• 

  Inside picture of the breech, seen from the commander's port

Media

Images

• 

  Chi-Ha Short Gun coming from the sea

• 

  Chi-Ha Short Gun engaging an enemy

• 

  Chi-Ha Short Gun back view

Videos

Most unusual vehicles discusses the Chi-Ha Short Gun at 2:15 - War Thunder Official Channel

See also

Related development

• Directly Related:
  • Type 97 Chi-Ha (base hull)
  • Type 97 Chi-Ha Kai (base turret)
  • Type 2 Ho-I (reference role)

• Related:
  • Type 97 Chi-Ha Long Gun (another navy variant)

Tanks of comparable role, configuration and era

• M8 Scott

External links

• [Development] Chi-Ha Short Gun: Naval Caliber

Japan premium ground vehicles
Light tanks	Ha-Go Commander · Type 16 (FPS)
Medium tanks	Chi-Ha Short Gun · Chi-He (5th Regiment) · Ka-Chi · Chi-Nu II · Type 74 (G) · Type 90 (B) "Fuji"
Heavy tanks	Ro-Go · ▅Heavy Tank No.6
Tank destroyers	Ho-Ri Prototype · Type 75 MLRS